A known image forming apparatus is configured to form images on both surfaces of a sheet.
This kind of image forming apparatus includes a reverse conveying path. In a simplex printing mode, a sheet is fed to an image forming unit where an image is formed on a single surface of the sheet, and then the sheet having the image on the single surface is ejected onto the ejection tray. In a duplex printing mode, after an image is formed on a first surface of a sheet at the image forming unit, the sheet having the image on the first surface is conveyed via a reverse conveying path to the image forming unit. Through the reverse conveying path, the sheet is inverted so that a second surface faces the image forming unit. After an image is formed on the second surface of the sheet at the image forming unit, the sheet having the images on both first and second surfaces is ejected onto the ejection tray.
An angled roller set is disposed in the reverse conveying path for moving a sheet toward one side of the reverse conveying path in a width direction (orthogonal to a sheet conveying direction) while convening the sheet P. A side restriction member is disposed on one side relative to the angled roller set in the width direction. The angled roller set conveys a sheet while moving the sheet toward one side in the width direction until the sheet contacts the side regulation member, and the side regulation member restricts further movement of the sheet toward one side and maintains the orientation of the sheet.
The angled roller set includes a drive roller to which a drive force is transmitted and a driven roller configured to be driven by the drive roller. The drive roller has a resin-made rotation shaft around which a rubber is fitted. A rotation axis of the drive roller is parallel to the width direction. The driven roller has a shaft and a peripheral surface, which are combined with each other and made of resin. A rotation axis of the driven roller is inclined relative to the rotation axis of the drive roller. The rotation axis of the driven roller is inclined such that an end portion of the driven roller closer to one side (the side regulation member) in the width direction is more upstream in the sheet conveying direction.
In the above configuration, when the resin-made peripheral surface of the driven roller contacts a surface of a sheet having a relatively large filled-in area, the surface of the sheet is glazed and thus the driven roller may slip on the glazed surface, which may reduce a conveying force required for moving a sheet toward one side in the width direction.